Man drives 5km the wrong way down the Bruce Hwy

THERE aren't too many things more frustrating than missing your exit on the highway.

But a Kirkwood man has set a prime example of what not to do if it happens to you, by turning around and driving the wrong way down the highway.

Corey John Carney-Auckram pleaded guilty in Gladstone Magistrates Court on Tuesday to driving without due care and attention and driving without a licence after he was picked up at Landsborough at about 10.26pm on January 7.

Police were looking for him after receiving calls from the public about a car driving the wrong way off to the side of the Bruce Hwy's northbound lane.

At one point, a truck reportedly had to swerve to avoid it.

When police stopped in front of the car, they found Carney-Auckram in the driver's seat.

At first told them someone else had been driving, but soon admitted it was him all along.

He told the officers he had driven from Gladstone to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital to see his partner, but had missed his exit and gone to the Glasshouse Mountains.

After turning around to head back north, one of his tyres developed a slow leak, so he decided to turn back once more and return to a service station he had passed earlier.

Instead of crossing back to the southbound side, he said he had decided to put his hazard lights on and drive slowly down the side of the road because the two sides of the road were separated by an embankment.

Representing himself, Carney-Auckram told the court he was unable to call for help because his phone was flat.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Merrilyn Hoskins said police estimated he would have travelled at least five kilometres in the time they searched for him.

She said Carney-Auckram had no Queensland traffic history - but he had also never held a licence.

Asking Magistrate Melanie Ho to impose fines and suspensions for both offences, Sgt Hoskins said her main concern was Carney-Auckram's road knowledge was "at very best, poor".

She said if he was not suspended "he could go and get a licence tomorrow".

Magistrate Melanie Ho said Carney-Auckram may have taken a "calculated risk", but had created a hazard in doing so.

She fined him $1000 for driving without due care, and $450 plus a three-month disqualification for the unlicensed driving charge.